Most Voters Care At Least Somewhat About Romney's VP Pick

Mitt better pick carefully, New Hampshire is tight, and New Jersey is blue. Here's our guide to today's polls and why they matter.

Findings: Vice presidents are important: 26 percent of registered voters says the choice of a veep matters "a lot" to how they will ultimately vote. Less emphatically, 48 percent said it "matters somewhat." Overall, that's 74 percent of voters who say it will have some effect on their decision.

Caveat: The Times report on the poll is less enthusiastic about the results. Whereas the CBS headline focused on the overall 74 percent who said that the VP matters to their vote, the Timesemphasized that "only a quarter of voters say the selection of the vice presidential candidate matters a lot to their decision in November." Also, the full poll results do not come out until later this evening.

Findings: Obama's lead in New Hampshire is slipping. Whereas in April Obama had a 9 point lead over Romney in the state, he now leads 49 percent to 45 percent among likely voters, with 4 percent favoring another candidate and 3 percent undecided.

Methodology: 521 New Hampshire adults interviewed via landline and cell phone between July 5 and July 15. Margin of error is +/-4.3 percent. Subsample of 470 likely general election voters with a margin of error of +/-4.5 percent.

Why it matters: Despite Obama's lead, swing state New Hampshire will be a challenge for both Romney and Obama who both have strong support within their parties, but are split with 41 percent for Romney and 40 percent for Obama among independents. “This election looks to be as close as the 2000 and 2004 elections in New Hampshire,” said Andrew Smith, director of the UNH Survey Center, according to the poll. Those races were decided by 1 percentage point.

Caveat: Obama's has a lead among those who have "definitely decided" who they will give their vote to: 52 to 47 percent, and while his favorability rating has dropped recently, he is still viewed more favorably than Romney in the state.

Findings: Obama has a strong lead in New Jersey — 49 to 38 percent. He leads in a number of demographic categories excepting Republicans, where Romney has overwhelming support, and white voters where Romney leads 46 to 39 percent. Among men and voters over 55 the vote is "split." Men support Obama 44 percent to Romney's 43, and voters over 55 swing 44 percent to Obama and 45 percent to Romney.

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